In a story starting to seem as old as time, again the Patriots won the Super Bowl, this time against the Atlanta Falcons. Since the arrival of Head Coach Bill Belichick, the franchise has been on that grand stage seven times, with five wins. (There were two appearances at the Super Bowl prior to Belichick; both were losses for the Patriots.) The Patriots have more Super Bowl appearances than any other team. Although in deference to Pittsburgh fans, the Steelers have more wins with 6 in total.

Catch up on the in-depth discussion pertaining to the Wealth and Income Gaps before our next issue of PSX! Michael Dennis Graham has completed the first three in his series of articles on that subject, with at least one or two more studies to come. In his series he examines the implications of the wealth and income gaps for people and the organizations that employ them.

In his first article, Graham begins his study with a discussion on why these gaps arose, looking at an array of authors, economists, pundits, and politicians to see where they agree and where they disagree.

In his second article – From the Bottom Up – Graham looks at how organizational and governmental changes can help narrow the gaps by improving the circumstances of the nation’s poorest citizens.

In Graham’s third article – From the Top Down – he examines how the wealthiest can help to pay for the needed programs and services (with some changes to tax codes) to bridge the gap.

Coming up in our next issue of PSX, Graham takes a GLOBAL view to see what changes or situations have helped other countries to narrow the gaps, and how or if those experiences could be used here in the United States.

We encourage you to join the dialogue by posting a comment below. You can access the most recent People Strategy Exchange Magazine – PSX here and can link to any issues you have missed on page 4.

This is the first in a series of articles on the subject of the gaps in wealth and income and the implications for people and the organizations that employ them. This month, we will start with a discussion on why it happened, looking at an array of authors, economists, pundits, and politicians to see where they agree and where they disagree. Continue reading “The Wealth Gap” »

Michael Graham examines the challenge of creating a responsible value exchange strategy to attract and retain the right CEO to head a business, while at the same time ensuring this is compatible with the over-all objectives and business strategy of the company.

The problems of workers finding jobs will be exacerbated by the expansion of cognitive technologies …thinking robots, if you will. Michael Graham looks at how the cozy synergy between increased automation and worker productivity (resulting in increased wages and job opportunities) seem to have derailed, leaving many workers un-and under-employed and the middle class at risk of obsolescence.

As the economy recovers the unemployment rates drops, albeit slightly, but the real information underneath that declining unemployment isn’t so good for the chronically under-employed. The percentage of part time jobs has increased as full time positions have decreased. And that situation looks like it may be here to stay. Michael Graham examines this new “workscape” and what it means for the economy overall.

Fixing the wage gap (even for organizations committed to its eradication) is no simple task.

Last April the country celebrated (read that word with great sarcasm) “equal pay day”, the day that women had to work to in 2014 to be paid as much as men were paid in 2013. Equal Pay Day inspired legislators to push for a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act that fell short of Senate consideration last April by just six votes. Continue reading “The Politics of Fair Pay: Revisiting the Wage Gap” »

The stubborn 7% unemployment rate here in the United States tends to masks a larger issue of underemployment, which today might be in the neighborhood of 18%. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, with unemployment rates at near historic lows, there was a demand for work life balance with a popular cry of “work to live don’t live to work”. Weirdly this sentiment applies today as well when perhaps 1/4 of the US working population either unemployed or underemployed. These people really do need to work to live. But with so many Americans struggling, the US traditional growth engine of consumerism can’t fix the problem. With limited disposable income American can’t spend their way out of this employment problem. So what will happen? How can companies and how can workers revision themselves to prosper under these “new normal” conditions? Continue reading “The Variable Worker – Revisiting the Employee/Employer Value Exchange” »